Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits

Chapter 2: Income Tax Issues

169

The IRS has taken to reciting a mantra in the PLRs where it denies the waiver: A waiver will be granted only if the deadline was missed because of one of the factors listed in Rev. Proc. 2003-16. See, e.g. , PLRs 2007-27023, 2007-30023, 2010-15039. Yet this pious recital is absent in many PLRs which do grant a waiver, because the IRS regularly grants waivers when the ability to meet the rollover deadline was completely within the participant’s control at all times and no factor listed in the Rev. Proc. existed; see, e.g. , PLRs 2006-06055, 2009-30052, 2009-51044, and 2009- 52066 (waiver granted because the final day of the 60-day period fell on a bank holiday); PLRs 2007-15016 (participant received two distributions when he had requested one; he was granted a waiver despite no mention of any illness or other problem that prevented him from noticing the double distribution or rolling it over); and 2007-26031 (participant deposited his rollover check at Credit Union but due to a “misunderstanding” it was deposited in a taxable account not an IRA— no financial institution “error” or any other Rev. Proc.-blessed excuse is alleged).